Anthony J. Marolda

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I was very young during WWII, but I remember being aware of it. We lived in Boston at the time, and I recall the air raid drills when we had to turn off all of the lights at night. More importantly I was aware that six of my uncles were in the service and everyone was worried about them. And the celebrations when they all returned home safely.

I am very impressed with the heroism and sacrifices that people made during that time. To commemorate that era, I decided to do a series of paintings of a few of the heroes. Some well known, others not so much.

Most historians agree that General George S. Patton, Jr. was the greatest U.S. general of World War II. To the right is an oil painting of him taken from photographs taken during the drive to relieve Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge.

Above is a more formal portrait of Patton taken from a photograph about the same time as the Battle of the Bulge. While he was a native of California, his wife was a member of the Ayer family of the Hamilton-Wenham area, not far from Gloucester. This is where he and his family lived during the thirties and forties. The family farm, Green Meadows, is now owned by the Town of Hamliton and his house remains on the property. His son, Major General George S. Patton, III, lived there until he died a few years ago.